The press conference given on 3 January by the American president after the capture of President Maduro and his wife demonstrates his authoritarian drift and could open the door for major non-democratic powers to act militarily.
The kidnapping of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, appears at first sight to be a victory for democracy. The man who stole power from the Venezuelan people in the last elections, depriving them of their dignity and fundamental freedoms, got what he (…)

The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, risks undermining Manila's moral authority in opposing foreign aggression following Washington's attack on Venezuela, several groups have warned.
Mamayang Liberal Representative Leila de Lima said the attack on Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro marked a regression of the United States into an “aggressor state”, placing it alongside China, Russia, and Israel in undermining the rules-based international order. (…)

From Batanes to Palawan, from joint ammunition manufacturing to prepositioning of US Marine logistics.
They have always been here, some would say. Not really.
After the Philippines ejected the US bases more than 30 years ago, we were not on the Americans' radar. In 1995, three years into the power vacuum in the region, China stepped in and took control of Mischief Reef. We did not hear from the Americans who were still reeling from their former colony's nationalist outburst.
It took a (…)

President Donald Trump ordered U.S. military forces to attack Venezuela and abduct Nicolás Maduro on January 3, taking him to New York City to stand trial for drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. At a press conference Trump said, “We are going to run the country,” and its oil industry. The attack, in violation of both U.S. and international law, is intended to demonstrate that the United States is reasserting control over the western hemisphere, a role that it exercised for over 100 years. (…)

The Donald Trump administration has carried out a military air strike against surgical targets in Venezuelan territory, that is, bombing attacks on official buildings and military bases in the country. The event, unprecedented on the continent for almost three decades, constitutes a flagrant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty, of Latin America as a whole, in total disregard for international law.
During the early hours of Saturday, January 3, bombings and explosions in Caracas and two (…)